"I left and never went back": The rural towns that offer no way up

Many people living outside of cities feel left behind as the lack of opportunities widens the gap between town and country life.

Huw Nesbitt’s journey out of the Oxfordshire village of Chilton was motivated by the urge to be anywhere else. The problem was it was so difficult to leave. Growing up in the peak of the 1990s recession, his parents faced financial crisis and he describes his comprehensive education as “remedial”.

Chiltern is just 16 miles from Oxford, a booming knowledg…